


Saudade

by wonderlandstreasurechest



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Power Rangers Operation Overdrive, Power Rangers S.P.D.
Genre: Bonding, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Memory Alteration, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Team Bonding, Team Up, once a ranger, platonic relationships are super important
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-12
Updated: 2014-06-27
Packaged: 2018-01-24 10:35:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1601813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonderlandstreasurechest/pseuds/wonderlandstreasurechest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Can friendships transcend time and memory? There's something too familiar to be new in Bridge and Kira's blossoming camaraderie. As they cope with the return to rangerdom, they're sure their paths have never crossed before, but between bonding with their new team and figuring out what life after morphers is all about, Bridge and Kira have a chance at real friendship this time around.</p><p>A series of Bridge and Kira's various interactions across the PR Timeline, tied together with the Once A Ranger plot.<br/>(Edited Version of "We've Met Before" from my FF.Net account.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Once A Ranger Pt. 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an edited and hopefully improved version of "We've Met Before" (available to read on FF.Net). I wanted to play around with the idea that "Once a Ranger" is Bridge and Kira's third team-up episode, though after the memory wipe in "Wormhole", neither of them remember the other two.

**Hartford Manor**

**San Angeles, California (2007)**

Bridge Carson stared at the ceiling, blinking only when absolutely necessary. His thoughts were consumed by things he couldn’t wrap his mind around. This time and place, this speck of dust in the universe, this moment in distant history— it was all he could think about. It was hard to imagine that he was here, and that he would have to go back.

Would he be permitted to remember this time? Kat had once let it slip to him that he'd been around this time before, even though it had risked the natural progression of time, but she had covered it up so quickly that he was left with more questions than answers. Really, it was a wonder that the Sentinel Knight had chosen him at all, considering that at this exact moment, he was in two places at once. Somewhere, in what would soon be Newtech City, there was a three-year-old him, tucked in soundly, dreaming of becoming a power ranger.

It was so dark in this room. There were no windows in the basement base of the Hartford Manor, and Mr. Hartford (Andrew? He wasn’t sure which to call the man who may be his new mentor…) hadn’t had time to ready a few of the manor’s countless rooms for his new rangers. Tired from their first day back on the job, the team had agreed to crash in the base on blow-up mattresses in the pitch dark.

It wasn’t that bad, though. In fact, the darkness reminded him of his dorm back home. The air mattress was, however, a step down from his once-regulation bunk. In the years since he had first moved into that dorm, he'd altered, adjusted and tricked that bad boy out until it was the epitome of comfort. Shifting slightly in his sleeping bag that rustled against the plastic mattress, he decided this was considerably less comfortable.

He'd be home soon enough, he reminded himself. Two more days, tops. That was the way it always worked with this kind of mission: go back in time, work quickly, save the world, get home. Memory wipe: optional.

Bridge smiled, thinking of what was waiting for him in the future—or was it the present? It was his present. This was the past. Although, now certainly felt like the present. To someone on some other timeline, this was the future, though.

Time travel hurt his head.

He came to the conclusion that time didn't really matter. Not to him. He just wanted to return to the time and place where his friends were, where he had finally began to feel like things were settling down after Grumm’s defeat. Sure, it had taken a few years, but things back in his time were the best they’d been since his academy days. Better even.

"Bridge?" A whisper cut through his thoughts. It almost sounded like Syd… But Syd was in the future (present? home?) so it couldn't be her. Perhaps he'd only imagined it. He closed his eyes, and tried to forget about it. "Are you awake?" No, it was definitely real, and it definitely wanted to talk to him.

"Yeah?" He hesitantly answered, only slightly confused. "Yeah, I am. May I ask who's calling?" The voice giggled. In the dark, he caught the peripheral outline of a body sitting up. An air mattress across the room scuffed against the tile.

"I'm coming over there." He sat up in response. Peeling the leather glove off of his right hand, he felt for an aura. Yellow waves hit him like a tsunami. He had never felt such a strong wave of energy all at once, or at least he couldn't think of a time when he had. Quickly, he fastened the glove back on. It was almost painful, having such pure energy radiating through his skin, pulsating like earthquakes through his senses.

"Good morning, Kira," Bridge greeted her a little over-enthusiastically in a whisper as she padded her way between the others' makeshift beds. She reached his and hesitated only a second before sitting on the opposite end. Folding her left leg under her right, she cocked her head slightly.

"Is it morning, already?" She asked.

"I think so," He answered, reaching to the pile of his clothes, folded neatly beside him, he dug up his watch from the pocket of his uniform. Pressing a button on the side of the face, a dimly lit hologram informed them that it was 2:16 in the morning.

"I guess it is." Kira shrugged. As he tossed his timepiece back onto the pile, she couldn't help but take notice of it. It was pretty cool, by watch standards. "Great watch, by the way."

"Thanks," He said. “I've had it… a while."

"I'm not keeping you up, am I? I hope I didn't wake you…"

It was Bridge's turn to shrug. He ran a hand through his bed-head and answered, "I was up, and I don't know that I was getting to sleep anytime soon. Was there some particular reason you wanted to talk to me? Not that I don't enjoy your company… Well actually, I don't know whether I enjoy your company or not. I haven't really made that decision yet." He caught himself before his entire foot was in his mouth. "No offense."

"None taken," She laughed quietly, trying not to wake anyone else up. "I don't actually know why I came over here. I couldn't sleep and when I heard you stir, I thought maybe…" Her voice trailed off. She didn't know how to explain what it was, but she knew that talking to Bridge was like living in a dream, and she couldn't help but be completely honest with him. "I think I like talking to you, is all. It gives me this… feeling."

"Feelings are actually your brain's reaction to changes in heart rate." He recited a line he'd read in a medical journal at the age of nineteen. No, wait. It was in the SPD library… There was the librarian with the chains on her glasses… Syd was there. Sky was not. He was eighteen when he read that. "Typically, feelings of anxiety or fear tend to accompany a quickening heart rate, while disappointment and relaxation are generally coupled with a slowing heart rate."

"I don't think it's one of those feelings," She said slowly, dissecting his words. Kira couldn't be sure, she hadn't known Bridge for more than a few hours, but it sounded to her like he thought she was hitting on him. She tried to correct that sentiment. "More like… nostalgia? Like we've had conversations before. But that's impossible, isn't it? We just met today, or yesterday, rather, seeing as it's morning."

"Actually, in Portuguese, there is a word for that: saudade. I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly, I've only ever read it before… Anyway, it refers to a intense nostalgia or deep longing for something that either hasn't happened yet or possibly happened in another life? Something like that…" Pausing, he scanned his memory. There was something else. Squinting in concentration, he began to speak again. "I think the most literal English translation is something along the lines of 'a residual love'. It's kind of similar to déjà vu, which, of course, is French for 'what has been seen before'."

"Wow," Kira breathed, letting his words resonate with her. He had so much knowledge that it almost scared her. Was there anything he didn't remember? Anything he hadn't read? "You speak all those languages?"

"Yes." He said bluntly. "I speak every language known to man, extraterrestrial, and most varieties of dolphin."

Kira fell silent. For a moment, she couldn't tell if he was insane or simply brilliant. As she pondered, he suddenly let out a laugh, soft and sweet, that let her in on his joke.

"I'm sorry," Bridge gasped between muffled bursts of laughter. "Dolphins… You totally believed me!"

She blushed only slightly before joining his laughter. He was right. It was pretty funny. "Was I not supposed to believe you?" She reached over his sleeping bag and shoved his shoulder. "Did I have any reason not to? It's not like I've ever _been_ to the future before, you know. For all I know, dolphin communication is taught to third graders there!"

"You're right, you're right," He admitted, catching his breath. "I'm sorry. I took advantage of your past-liness."

"That's right, you're sorry!" Kira joked. "In my day, we respected our elders, young man."

"We are in your day!"

"I suppose we are, aren't we?" She smiled, silently trying to do the math. "I'm twenty, now… How old does that make you?"

"Well, I was born in 2004," He answered. "So, technically, I’m almost four. I had hoped while I was here that I might meet myself so then I could be friends with little me. The only problem is… what if I end up not liking myself? That could be a total bummer."

"That's not what I meant," Kira explained. "How old are you… were you… will you be, I guess, when you leave to come to this time?"

"Oh, twenty-four," He nodded. A smile sprawled across his face, as he realized what that meant. "I think that makes me _your_ elder, after all." Crossing his arms, authoritatively, as he'd seen Sky do for years, he decreed, "You are now obligated to laugh at all of my jokes, including, but not limited to, those about dolphins."

"Keep it down, you two!" A husky voice growled, the already thick accent thickened with sleep. Xander rolled over in half wake. "Beauty sleep is trying to happen over here."

"Sorry!" Kira hissed in his direction. Turning back to Bridge, she hesitated. "I guess I better get to bed, then."

"Yeah," He said, letting his smile fade. "We've got a big day of alien-robot-assassin-or-whatever fighting in the morning."

Kira stood up and silently made her way back to her own bed, thinking to herself that there was no way she was only meeting him for the first time. It could be possible that they'd met, or even been friends in a different life, or timeline, or something. Stranger things had happened, she supposed. What was this, exactly? Déjà vu? Saudade? For now, she decided to call it friendship and maybe catch some sleep.


	2. Her Time

**Ford Residence**

**Reefside, California (2004)**

The early morning light filtered into Kira’s bedroom window on a day in late May. Strumming lightly at the strings on her guitar, she was feeling the most like herself that she had since gem had stopped working, but she knew that it wasn’t going to last long. Surely, something—a regular, non-morpher call from one of the guys, a crying baby from down the street she’d mistake as the sounds of danger, or _something_ ­—was going to remind her that it was over and she’d go back to feeling a little emptier.

The year had taken forever, but was almost graduation day and then she would never have to go back to that miserable high school again. Thinking back on her time at Reefside High, she decided that maybe that wasn't fair. Her time in high school, even pre-powers, hadn’t been entirely awful, and there were points over the last year, that she could have called the whole thing downright enjoyable. Most of that had to do with the guys and Dr. Oliver, and she was glad to know that, at least those friendships were going to last. She was sure that they weren’t going anywhere.

Well, most of them weren’t.

A car horn blared outside her window, and she rolled her eyes.

Conner, obnoxious as always.

Didn't he know that it was a Saturday morning? Didn't he care he was in the suburbs? That some people were probably sleeping? Kira propped her guitar against the bed and rushed downstairs, through the kitchen, to the front door.

"Bye, Mom!" She shouted back up the stairs. "I'll be back by lunch!" There was no sound in reply. Her mother had said it was okay earlier, but just to be safe, she scrawled a note out on the telephone pad. Throwing the door open, she inhaled the early summer air. It tasted clean and smelled like adventure.

Conner's red sedan stuck out like a sore thumb, parked crookedly in her driveway. The car was a deathtrap, she told herself, pulling the handle and slipping in. She had to slam the passenger door shut for it to stick, and on the third try it finally did. Flipping the lock, just to be safe, she pulled the seatbelt across her chest and turned to Conner with a smile.

"Thanks for the ride," She said as he looked at her expectantly. He didn't say anything, didn't move. "Sorry for taking so long…" What was he waiting for? Why was he looking at her like that? "Is something… wrong, Conner?"

"Trent came over last night." He said, folding his arms.

"Oh."

"Yeah," Conner raised his eyebrows, but when she didn't respond, he went on. "You could have told me. I wouldn't have said anything."

"Look," She sighed. "I don't want to talk about it. It was… mutual, kind of. We just weren't going to work out.”

Trent was a complicated situation, to say the least. After a year of alternately crushing and being crushingly disappointed, Kira finally had answers to her Trent questions, and she was entirely okay with them.

At prom, he had asked her to dance, and she had been thrilled, but no matter how much she was still into him, it wasn’t the same with him since she had learned the truth about Anton Mercer. It wasn’t that she couldn’t _trust_ Trent, or whatever Conner was always going on about, but she knew that even if it had been to protect his dad, Trent had kept way more than his fair share of secrets and told too many lies with too much ease. She could forgive him for that, thinking about what she’d have done for her own parents or Hayley or Dr. O, but the list of things Trent should work out for himself before getting into a relationship with anyone was way too long for her overlook. So when Trent had come over to her house the night before, she’d broken it to him as gently as possible that she didn’t want to get involved past friends. For now, anyway, and he’d agreed to be cool with her decision.

She was a little surprised to hear that he seemed to have gone directly to Conner's place after hers, but that didn’t make their relationship (or lack thereof) any of Conner’s business, and she told him so. “I didn’t tell you because it wasn’t going to affect you.”

"Doesn't affect me? Funny," He said, faking a laugh. "You know what Trent asked me, last night? He wanted to know if he was still invited to my graduation party, considering that you'd be there and that you probably didn't want to see him."

"What did you tell him?"

"Of course he's still invited, Kira." He couldn't look at her anymore. Turning the key in the ignition, he put the car in reverse and pulled into the street. "We've been through a lot, sure, but at the end of the day, the guy's kind of one of my best friends. _You're_ one of my best friends. When, exactly, were you planning on telling me that you two broke up?"

"We didn’t _break up._ Break up implies we were together.”

“Oh, that is so not the point.”

“I guess I was going to explain it, you know, eventually? If it came up? I just didn't know you cared so much," She said, looking down at her hands.

"I know," Conner sighed. "It's none of my business. Whatever. But you know that you can talk to me about that stuff, right? I'm kind of a love doctor, you know." She nearly snorted.

They spent the rest of the drive in relative silence, the only noise was Conner's muffler which wasn't exactly doing its job, and one of the mix CDs she'd forced at him in a state of disgust after he told her his favorite band was "probably the Black Eyed Peas" because "Fergie's got it going on".

At last, they pulled into the shopping center. Kira pulled off her seat belt and struggled to open the door.

"You gotta push, Kira," Conner coached, seeing her efforts wasted.

"I _am_ pushing."

"Is it locked?"

"No!" Kira said indignantly, before looking down and seeing that it was. "Maybe…" She corrected herself before flipping the lock again and pushing one last time. The door opened with a long creak. "See, I got it."

"Yeah, right," He rolled his eyes, and stepped out on his side. They made their way inside the mall, past mannequins and perfume displays in the department store where they entered. The whole scene put Conner on edge. He wasn't a fan of shopping malls in general, and thought that Kira shared that sentiment, but she seemed to be getting on just fine. "How long is this going to take, exactly?"

"Not too long, if we're lucky." Kira answered vaguely. "There's a vintage video game store downstairs and I had them put it aside for me."

"Right," Conner said, reminding himself aloud, as he shoved his hands in his pockets, uncomfortably. "The game. The holy grail of graduation gifts."

"Don't make fun," She shot him a warning glare. "When Ethan sees that I got him _Battle Heroes II: Space Invasion_ for graduation, he might literally worship me, and I'd hate to have to request human sacrifice, mister."

Conner faked another laugh and followed her towards the concourse. As they passed by the jewelry counter, something caught him. Literally. A balled fist tugged at the pant leg of his jeans. Startled, Conner turned and looked down to see an infant grasping for dear life at his leg. "Kira…" He looked around for the baby's parents, but didn't see anyone in the immediate area that seemed to be desperately searching for their child. "I think that _Battle Heroes_ is going to have to wait…"

"What are you talking about," She turned back to find Conner scooping the child from the floor. "Oh my god," Kira gasped.

"I know," Fear painted Conner's face. "What are we going to… I mean, what about… Where are his parents?"

"Conner." She hissed gravely. "Where did you get _a baby_?"

"I didn’t… I mean, he just… grabbed me." Conner held the baby out to take a better look at him. He was actually pretty cute. The baby smiled back at him before laughing. He seemed happy. "Hey, big guy, there is nothing funny about this. You're in a lot of trouble when we find your mom."

"Should we, I don't know, tell someone?" Kira thought back to the safety lessons she'd been forced to sit through in elementary school. Trusted adults. She needed to find a trusted adult, pronto. The briefest fear that she _was_ an adult, in the broadest sense of the word, flashed across her mind, but she pushed it aside. "Here, follow me." She grabbed Conner's jacket sleeve and pulled as he adjusted the baby in his arms. The baby was pretty small, maybe only a few months old. Was he even old enough to be getting lost? Apparently, he was. She scanned around, looking for a security person.

"Ow, ow, ow…" Conner cringed as his hair was tugged at by the baby's unusually strong grip.

"Oh, grow up, Conner." Kira seethed. "We don't have time for you to be playing with him. This is serious. Imagine if you were his mother. She's got to be so worried…"

"I wouldn't actually call this playing," He explained pulling tiny hands from his hair. "You stop that." He scolded the baby, who giggled in reply.

Finally, Kira's eyes landed on a blue uniform. Score. She so had this under control. The officer was talking to a nervous looking woman. Surely, this was more important. Dragging Conner behind her, she marched up to the officer, putting on her bravest face, hoping everyone couldn't tell how petrified she was.

"Excuse me, sir," She cleared her throat. He turned looking stern.

"Miss, I'm sorry, but we have a missing child report here, and that takes precedence."

Holding her breath and hoping that this was some lucky coincidence, she shot Conner a hopeful glance. He was distracted by the baby, however, and didn't catch it. Sighing, she took matters in to her own hands and physically pulled him forward. "We have a _found_ child, officer."

"Bridgey!” The woman he had been talking to pushed past him, lifted the child from Conner's arms, her tear stained face light up, only to be covered in new tears of joy. "Bridge, you had Mommy so worried!" She wrapped him in a tight embrace. "Don't do that to Mommy ever again. Ever."

Conner nudged Kira with his elbow, satisfied with himself. She rolled her eyes.

"You kids did the right thing," The security officer said clapping a hand on Conner's shoulder. "Ma'am, is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No, no," She answered quickly, wiping the tears away from her eyes with the back of her hand as she strapped the baby back in his stroller. "Thank you so much." The officer tipped his hat at her, before walking away. "And thank you, kids. You have no idea, I thought he was lost forever."

"Oh, you know," Kira said awkwardly. "We should, um, go. I'm glad everything worked out for you."

"Wait!" The woman stopped them. "You two are my guardian angels. I will never forget this. Thank you."

As they walked away, Conner nudged her again. “Who says no morphers means no good deeds, huh?”

“Yeah,” She smiled, bumping back. “And you know what? I kinda liked not having to take the time to put on spandex first.”

“But I looked so good in spandex!”

“Conner!”


	3. Once A Ranger Pt. 2

**Hartford Manor**

**San Angeles, California (2007)**

Kira's eyelids fluttered as she was suddenly ripped from a vivid dream. Maybe it was a memory. Was it morning?

She groaned, remembering that it had been morning when she went to sleep. She sat up, greeted by the friction of her yellow sleeping bag on the plastic mattress, a sound she hated. Silently, she thanked whoever was responsible for Andrew Hartford’s apparent wealth because it meant she’d have her own, super comfy, and hopefully large bed all to herself tonight.

Looking around the base, she noticed that she was the last one up, and unfortunately, that was not in the slightest unusual for her. She decided she might as well face the day and headed up the stairs and towards the kitchen. The sounds of her new, and playfully bickering team, grew louder as she got closer.

“All I’m saying,” Xander said, “Is that I didn’t see one highly trained ninja come to help when Briarwood was in trouble, but heaven forbid Reefside should—”

“What about Reefside?” Kira cut in.

"Morning, Kira," Tori smiled sweetly, as she walked in, putting the coffee pot back in its place. "Ignore him. Xander’s just jealous that we’ve worked together before.” Xander rolled his eyes. “I was just telling the guys about the time you totally saved our ninja butts from Lothor a few years back.”

“Oh, geez,” Kira smiled back at her. “Has it really been years? It feels like yesterday I was totally _kicking_ your ninja butt.”

“Funny,” Tori said, in a jesting, though somewhat defensive tone. “I seem to remember you guys getting bailed out by some of my friends.”

“I seem to remember Blake, Cam and Hunter bailing you guys out, too!” Kira and Tori shared a laugh as Kira crossed the kitchen to pull out a yellow mug from the cabinet.

“Well,” Adam said from behind the newspaper he was reading, “If those guys are such heroes, how’d we end up with those two goofs?” He joked, gesturing to the kitchen table where Xander and Bridge were sharing a rather large plate of toast. Well, there was a rather large plate of toast between them, but Xander didn’t seem to be eating any of it.

“Hey!” Bridge protested, mid-bite.

Quick to move on, Adam folded his newspaper and turned to Kira. “You sure slept in."

"I was up late," Kira explained, although that was only half the reason. The other half was that she just deeply loved sleeping. She began humming a tune as she set her mug on the counter, and poured herself a cup of coffee. "Couldn't sleep, you know?"

"Oh, I know," Xander said. "Trust me, I know. You and Big Red were up way past midnight, braiding each other’s hair." He punched Bridge playfully in the arm.

Bridge only took another bite of toast. "You know, I never actually learned how to braid,” He said, still chewing. “There was a knots tying class at the academy, and they tried to teach me, but I failed miserably and ended up taking an extra special entrances class, instead."

"I bet that paid off." Tori said, half joking. Anyone who had seen Bridge in battle knew that he was especially fond of arriving with flair.

"I think it probably did," Bridge nodded, between bites, completely oblivious to her joke. "But I learned so many things at the academy, so I don't know if I'd say that was the most important…"

"I know what the most important thing I learned in school is," Xander replied without hesitation. "My absolutely unmatched people skills."

"People skills?” Adam repeated, trying not to laugh. “That’s the most important thing? Not how to read a map? Or, I don’t know, how to read anything?”

“No way!” He said with a smirk. "It’s okay, though, mate. Wouldn’t expect you to understand. It's all a part of Plan Xander. You’ll see.”

"Right," Tori scoffed with a laugh. "Well, it's official. He's gone crazy for sure."

"Is that right, then?" Xander asked, defensively. "I'll have you know that Plan Xander usually works, love."

"Oh, I believe you," Tori said with mock sincerity. "I think I was actually there the last time Plan Xander went into action… Can someone remind me what happened? Oh, that's right… You ended up flat on your back."

"Hey, now…"

"What about you, Tori?" Kira asked, in an attempt to break the tension. "Any bits of wisdom from Ninja School?"

"Yeah, I can think of a few," She said smiling into her coffee cup. "But if I had to pick one… Sensei's always saying 'you must trust your inner ninja'." She impersonated her sensei perfectly, obviously having years of practice. "It's his way of saying that your instincts will get you through some of the toughest scrapes."

"That's good advice," Adam noted. “And straightforward. I could have used something straightforward, back in the day. Remind me to tell you about Dimitria, sometime.”

"I wish my Commander said cool stuff like that," Bridge said, dreamily. "Commander Cruger mostly barks, though. He's a dog, you know. Dogs aren’t exactly the most zen animals."

"As opposed to what?" Xander asked.

"Guinea pigs." Tori grinned smugly.

Just then, an alarm sounded, the noise starting Bridge, who accidentally spilled his plate of toast.

“I guess this is go-time,” Tori said, putting her mug down on the counter, as the five new teammates raced to the poles at the end of the hall to prep for their first solo mission as a team.


	4. History

**SPD Base**

**Newtech City (2025)**

Everything in the SPD base was so big and new, and Kira couldn't remember a time when she'd felt so small and old. A thousand thoughts swirled in her mind, making it hard to pay attention to Sky's obviously rehearsed speech.

Sky had insisted on finishing the tour he’d started earlier in the time it was going to take Dr. Manx to figure out the time warp reversal, which she’d assured them would be ready first thing in the morning. He was leading their little tour group forward past the Ranger Hall of Fame when Kira realized she had missed his entire spiel on the topic. Just as she was thinking that she hadn't lost anything by spacing out, she caught sight of something that caused her to stop dead in her tracks.

That was her picture on the wall.

Luckily, it wasn’t a picture of just her, and anyone who wasn’t a high clearance level at SPD wouldn’t know it was her at all. The framed picture was of everyone—Trent and Dr. O, too—donning spandex, but no helmets, and trying to avoid the press outside a burning building. It only served to remind her of what she used to be. She was once important, once a ranger, once a hero, but from her current place in time, it had been twenty years since then. She was only one year out of high school, and already feeling nineteen years decrepit.

"Kira?" Her eyes darted back at the group, who had all moved forward save for Bridge who was waiting patiently. "You okay?”

"I'm fine," She lied, running to catch up.

"Quiet in the back," Sky called, as he pushed the button to open the latest in what seemed to be an endless string of doors. She watched as he did a mental head count. When he was certain that all four of his audience, Conner, Ethan, Bridge and herself, were there, he continued. "Okay, and finally, this is the SPD common room. It’s half rec-room, half cafeteria and the only place on the base, outside of dorms, where it’s acceptable to eat. It’s usually the most popular spot in the base."

"Yeah," Ethan said sarcastically. "It's a real party in here."

"Well, there actually usually are more people in here, but it's after ten." Bridge explained.

When Conner and Ethan exchanged a confused look, Sky cut in. “Except in case of an attack, curfew is strictly enforced.”

“On weeknights, that means ten. No exceptions. Well… Except if… there's an attack. Anyway, technically, we're breaking curfew, so that's why it's not so busy in here. Everyone else is in their dorms."

"No 'technically' about it," Sky countered. "We _are_ breaking curfew. Which is why I'll be taking you two," he gestured to Conner and Ethan. "Back to our dorm. We have sleeping bags set up and you can go home first thing in the morning."

"What about Kira?" Conner asked shooting her a nervous look. She shrugged, not wanting to admit that the same question had been on her mind since Syd and Z ducked out of Sky's tour claiming to go looking for Jack. She had wanted to go with them, but didn't want to leave Conner and Ethan to suffer alone.

“I’m on it,” Sky pulled his morpher from his waist and pressed a button on the side. “Delgado!”

“Whaddaya want, Sky?” Z’s voice rang from Sky’s morpher. It sounded like she was eating, so she was probably in her dorm room or breaking rules. “Is the tour over, yet?”

“Yeah,” Sky answered, clearly annoyed. “Thanks for sticking around for that, by the way.”

“I live to please.”

“Can you come to the common room and get Kira, please?”

“Yeah, yeah. On my way.”

“So that’s settled,” He announced and put his morpher back on his belt. Sky nodded to the guys and began walking out, but no one followed him.

“Do you want me to stay with you, Kir?" Conner asked, concerned.

"I can stay with you until Z comes back." Bridge offered with a smile. Turning back to Conner, he added, "You're going to want to get as much sleep as possible. Time travel can be pretty draining… At least that’s what I've heard."

"Thanks for the advice." Conner tried to sound sincere, but despite his efforts, he could hear the curtness in his voice. "Kira, can I talk to you for a minute?" Not waiting for an answer, he pulled her aside, leaving Bridge to wonder what he'd said wrong.

"Hey!" Kira exclaimed, pulling her arm back. "What's wrong with you?"

"Are you sure you don’t want someone else to stay with you? Ethan even? This guy’s a little… Strange." He looked back over his shoulder to where Bridge stood. Seeing them looking at him, he innocently waved. Sky non-discretely tapped the face of his watch. Ethan looked at them impatiently.

"Please," She scoffed, and he turned his attentions back to her. "There are worse things in this world than _‘strange’_ , Conner. I'll be fine. Besides, Bridge seems cool, and it'll just be until Z gets here, which should be soon, right?"

"I can stay here if you want… It's really no problem." He placed a protective hand on her shoulder.

"Conner, you're tired. You should go to bed." She pushed him back slightly with a smile. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay," He hesitated before returning back to the group.

"We'll meet back here at 700 hours sharp and head to Dr. Manx's lab together," Sky informed the room before pushing Conner and Ethan along.

"Goodnight!" She called after them as the guys headed out. "And then there were two." She sighed, making her way over to one of the long couches facing the skyline of Newtech City. "So this is where you spend most of your time?"

"When I'm not on patrol or in my dorm. Or Kat's lab. Kat's lab is probably my favorite place in the entire base. Well, that's not true… My dorm is actually my favorite place. It's not really _my_ dorm per se, because I share it with Sky, but my friend S.O.P.H.I.E., she's a cyborg, anyway, she taught me how to rig up my bunk so it reclines a little, which is good because blood flow stimulates the brain."

Bridge made an effort to return his breathing to normal. He couldn't help but freak out a little bit on the inside. Kira Ford was sitting on the couch where he had eaten breakfast that very morning. He had sat in that exact spot a thousand times while her music played into his headphones. He would have to remember everything about this conversation, every little detail, because he knew that Syd would drill him on it later.

"This place is so cool. I wish I could stay here a while," Kira said, admiring the view. Twenty years and this would be reality. Maybe it already was reality. Either way, it was beautiful. She made a mental note to visit this area as soon as she got home. Home. Home, she reminded herself, was no longer Reefside, California. It was in New York, where she couldn't get a job to save her life. "Couldn't you guys use a little extra help around here?"

"Personally, I would love if you guys could stay." Bridge said, finally making his way to the couch and sitting down. He made sure it was a comfortable distance. "But it’s impossible. You guys can only morph because Kat found a way to cause a minor glitch in the morphing grid. In a few days, the grid will auto correct itself making your gems useless."

"I don't need to morph to be helpful." She said indignantly, mostly because it wasn’t something she was sure to be true, but how hard could it be? When Dr. O had needed help around the base back in the day, Kira had always been the first one to step up, and sure filing and monitoring were boring jobs, but someone had to do them. Why not her? The more she thought about it, the harder it was to stop. Returning to action as a ranger might be out of the question, but she longed to be a part of something bigger again.

"But the Dino Gems are the only power source we have that’s powerful enough to allow time travel back. If you don't go back tomorrow, you aren't going back at all. Then the very fabric of time might…" He sighed. He didn't want to think about it. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Sure..." Kira answered, looking away. The silence between them thickened, like clouds before a rainstorm, and if she was being totally honest, it was uncomfortable. Some part of her always had and always would hate silence. Desperate for conversation, she turned back to Bridge, hoping he would have something to say. Instead, he just spun his watch around his wrist and stared ahead of him. "That’s a great watch."

"This?" Her voice snapped Bridge back into reality. Examining his watch, he unclasped it and pried it off his wrist. "I've had this since forever."

"Can I see it?" Kira asked as he placed it in the palm of her hand. "I don't know much about watches," she admitted as she took a closer look. "But I do know that this is a cool one. Good color, too. It suits you."

"I don't know..." He joked, forgetting momentarily his nerves. "Don't you think something in blue would bring out my eyes?" With a small laugh, she held the watch from the wristband up to his face, before wrinkling her nose and shaking her head. "No? What about red? Look again!"

"No, I think green is perfect." She reached out and handed him the watch back.

"You haven't even seen the best part..." Bridge went on, excitedly. Pointing to a small round button on the edge of the face, he began to explain. "This button here..."

"Wait!" Kira cut in, happy to have a game to play. "Let me guess! Does it... shoot a laser? No! I bet it's a walkie talkie!"

"Guess again." He prompted with a smirk.

"It… butters your toast?" She guessed, knowing it probably didn't… although, with Bridge, who could tell? "I give up. What does it do?

"Prepare yourself." He said ominously, as he dramatically pressed the button. A small screen appeared above the watch face, glowing green and displaying the time in what reminded Kira of a 3D movie. "The hologram function."

"That's really cool." She said, fascinated. "All my watch does tell the time."

"Well, I'll have to see about fixing yours to butter toast," Bridge laughed, thinking to himself that it wasn't such a bad idea. He felt his heart drop with the reminder that her memory would be wiped tomorrow. He wanted her to remember him, because he knew that he couldn't possibly forget her. "Until then, why don't you hold on to this?" He held the watch out to her and watched as she looked on him skeptically.

"Are you sure? I mean, this is yours." She tentatively reached for it, before pulling her hand back. "You should keep it, Bridge. It's a great watch. Besides, if I take this now, you'll never get it back."

"Are you scared?" He asked genuinely. "Of going back, I mean? Of time traveling?"

"A little," She admitted. "Have you ever time traveled? What does it feel like? I can't remember what it was like coming here at all."

"It… takes a lot out of you," He said, placing the watch on the couch between them and turning to look back at the window. "I've never done it myself, but I know people who have. Do you remember Sam?”

“Your White Ranger?”

“Omega, technically,” Bridge smiled to himself. “Well, Sam’s not from this time. He’s from the future. For you I guess that would be the future-ier future. Coming back was hard for him, even with his future tech. He sort of, um, lost his body.”

“Lost his body?” Kira repeated slowly, in disbelief. “How do you _lose a body_?”

“That won’t happen to you guys!” Bridge quickly assured her. “Sam came back in a natural time portal. You guys are going into a generated warp, where there’s a lot more control.” Kira visibly relaxed. “Now that I think about it, actually, I have time traveled.”

“What? It slipped your mind?”

“You do it, too!” He smirked. “We’re both doing it now: traveling from second to second, moving forward, from one moment to the next. Do you believe in moments?” His tone was suddenly more serious. “Or continuous time?"

"You lost me…" Kira said, growing a little self-conscious. He was getting deep and she hoped she could stay afloat.

"I mean, do you think that time is just a series of instances, of moments, all strung together like beads on a necklace? Or is there just, like, one time, one big ocean?"

"Time is an ocean…" She tried the words on for size, deciding she agreed with them. "I think it must be. We only get one shot, right?"

"Maybe we get a whole bunch of shots," Bridge said slowly. "Maybe every decision affects the next, and memory is just there to remind you what not to do in the future."

"Bridge." She had to stop him. The gravity of all her thoughts caught up with her and a thousand worries poured out of her. "I'm scared of tomorrow. What if it's painful? What if the machine doesn't work? What if I get—"

"Can I tell you something?" Bridge cut in, hoping to soothe her mind. He looked at her, really looked at her, for the first time since he'd met her this morning and realized that she wasn't the woman he knew her as, yet. She wasn't the cool, confident, fearless twenty-eight year old from her first hit album. She wasn't even the misunderstood, poetic twenty-six year old from her first big single. Kira Ford was sitting with him, scared and anxious and nineteen, and he wanted to make her feel better.

"This is totally embarrassing, and you can’t tell anyone, okay?” He began, and she nodded in return. “When I first came to SPD, I had really bad nightmares. See, I have this special thing where I can feel energy and auras coming off people, and there was so much energy in the base that it constantly overloaded my sensors and that stress gave me bad dreams. I spent a lot of nights not sleeping at all to avoid it, but it just made it worse. That’s when Syd got me these.” He held up his hands, and pointed out his fingerless gloves. “They don’t make it so I can’t feel or anything, they just make it quieter.”

"So what you’re saying is…?”

“I think it’s okay to be scared.” He said, definitively. “But you can’t put all of your focus on the thing that’s scaring you. Sometimes, we just need something to take our minds off it, you know.” He picked up the watch from the cushion between them. “Wear this. It will make me feel better knowing it's protecting you." He said, reaching out for her hand. He clasped it around her wrist, before she could protest. Hers was so much more slender than his, and she noticed the notch in the leather didn't look as though it had ever been used before.

"Alright," She answered. "But you're getting this back before I go."

"It’s okay."

Suddenly, a loud whooshing noise signaled the door opening and both Bridge and Kira whipped their heads around to see who was coming in. Z and Syd smiled back at them.

"Sorry about the wait," Z hurriedly apologized. "Miss Princess insisted we tidy up the old homestead before coming to get you."

"You'll thank me," Syd said, rolling her eyes at Z. "Trust me, Z's pigsty is not a place you'd have wanted to sleep."

"Oh, it's fine," Kira said, standing up. "I'm just ready to turn in, if that's okay."

"Follow me," Syd said, taking her by the hand. She stopped for a moment as she caught sight of Bridge's watch. She would recognize it anywhere. Funny… He'd never let her wear it before. Suppressing the sudden pang of jealousy with a smile and twinge of excitement at walking hand in hand with her idol, Syd lead Kira down the hall.

"I'll catch up in a minute," Z called to them. She crossed her arms and looked at Bridge expectantly.

"What?" He asked with eyes still glued to the door.

"Scale of one to ten: how much did you geek out?"

"Three." Bridge said, blinking, and getting up, himself. "She's just a regular person. Like you or me, Z."


End file.
